Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ MSSS”With our pair of close flybys in December and February, Juno will investigate the source of Ios huge volcanic activity, whether a magma ocean exists beneath its crust, and the significance of tidal forces from Jupiter, which are non-stop squeezing this tortured moon,” said Bolton.Now in the 3rd year of its prolonged objective to investigate the origin of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft will also explore the ring system where some of the gas giants inner moons reside.Picture ThisAll three cameras aboard Juno will be active during the Io flyby. Junos orbit will drop to 33 days after the February 3 flyby.After that, Junos new trajectory will result in Jupiter blocking the Sun from the spacecraft for about 5 minutes at the time when the orbiter is at its closest to the planet, a duration called perijove. Starting in April 2024, the spacecraft will bring out a series of occultation experiments that utilize Junos Gravity Science experiment to probe Jupiters upper climatic makeup, which offers essential details on the worlds shape and interior structure.More About the MissionJPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno objective for the primary private investigator, Scott J. Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
Credit: Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ MSSS, Image processing by Ted StrykThe orbiter has performed 56 flybys of Jupiter and recorded close encounters with three of the gas giants four largest moons.NASAs Juno spacecraft will on Saturday, December 30, make the closest flyby of Jupiters moon Io that any spacecraft has made in over 20 years.”By integrating data from this flyby with our previous observations, the Juno science group is studying how Ios volcanoes vary,” stated Junos principal private investigator, Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ MSSS”With our set of close flybys in December and February, Juno will examine the source of Ios massive volcanic activity, whether a lava ocean exists beneath its crust, and the value of tidal forces from Jupiter, which are relentlessly squeezing this tortured moon,” said Bolton.Now in the third year of its prolonged mission to examine the origin of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft will likewise explore the ring system where some of the gas giants inner moons reside.Picture ThisAll three cams aboard Juno will be active during the Io flyby. Junos orbit will drop to 33 days after the February 3 flyby.After that, Junos brand-new trajectory will result in Jupiter blocking the Sun from the spacecraft for about five minutes at the time when the orbiter is at its closest to the world, a duration called perijove. Beginning in April 2024, the spacecraft will carry out a series of occultation experiments that use Junos Gravity Science experiment to probe Jupiters upper climatic makeup, which offers crucial details on the planets shape and interior structure.More About the MissionJPL, a department of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno objective for the primary investigator, Scott J. Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
